Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway

Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway 兰新铁路第二双线
Overview
Status	Operational
Locale	China Gansu Qinghai Xinjiang
Termini	Lanzhou railway station Ürümqi railway station
Stations	31
Service
Type	High-speed rail Heavy rail
System	China Railway
Operator(s)	China Railway Lanzhou Group China Railway Qingzang Group China Railway Ürümqi Group
History
Opened	November 16, 2014 (Ürümqi–Hami)[1] December 26, 2014 (Hami–Lanzhou West)
Technical
Line length	1,776 km (1,104 mi)
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Minimum radius	7,000 m (22,966 ft)
Operating speed	200–250 km/h (124–155 mph)[2][3] 350 km/h (217 mph) (planned)[4]
Maximum incline	2.0%
Route map Legend Baotou–Lanzhou railway & Longhai railway Lanzhou Baoji–Lanzhou high-speed railway Lanzhou West Lanzhou Zhongchuan Airport ICR Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Gaojiashan tunnel Yellow River Fuchuan tunnel Chenjiawan West Gansu Qinghai border Minhe South Haidong Huangshui River Haidong West Xining Caojiabao Airport Lanzhou–Qinghai railway Xining Qinghai–Tibet railway Datong West Dabanshan tunnel Datong River Menyuan Haomen Qinghai Gansu border Qilianshan No. 1 tunnel Liuhuanggou bridge Qilianshan No. 2 tunnel Minle G30 Zhangye West Linze South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Gaotai South Qingshui North Jiuquan South G30 Jiayuguan South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Jiayuguan tunnel Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Qingquan South Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yumen Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway G30 Liugou South Shibandun South Liuyuan South G30 Hongliuhe South Hongliuhe Gansu Xinjiang border Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yandun East Tudun No. 2 interchange Hami interchange Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Hami Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Liushuquan South Shisanjianfang Bridge Hongceng South Tuha G30 Shanshan North Turpan North Turpan Jiaohe Airport Daheyan Southern Xinjiang railway Dabancheng tunnel Dabancheng Wetland Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Yanhu West G216 Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway Ürümqi South Ürümqi This diagram: view talk

The Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway, also known as Lanzhou–Xinjiang Passenger Railway or Lanxin Second Railway (simplified Chinese: 兰新铁路第二双线; traditional Chinese: 蘭新鐵路第二雙線; pinyin: Lánxīn tiělù dìèr shuāngxiàn), is a high-speed railroad in Northwestern China from Lanzhou in Gansu Province to Ürümqi in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It forms part of what China designates the Eurasia Continental Bridge corridor, a domestic high-speed railway corridor running from its city of Lianyungang to the Kazakh border.

History[]

Construction work began on November 4, 2009. The 1,776-kilometre (1,104 mi) railway took four years to complete, of which, 795 kilometres (494 mi) is in Gansu, 268 kilometres (167 mi) in Qinghai and 713 kilometres (443 mi) in Xinjiang. Track laying for the line was completed on November 16, 2013.^[5] Thirty-one stations will be built along the line. The project costs 143.5 billion yuan.^[6]

Unlike the existing Lanxin railway, which runs entirely in Gansu and Xinjiang, the new high-speed rail is routed from Lanzhou to Xining in Qinghai Province before heading northwest across the Qilian Mountains into the Hexi Corridor at Zhangye. The rail tracks in the section near Qilianshan No. 2 Tunnel are at 3,607 metres (11,834 ft) above sea level,^[7] making it the highest high-speed rail track in the world.

Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway is shown on the map as light-blue color line.

The first high-speed train traveled over this line on June 3, 2014. This was a test train with a media contingent with full revenue service not due to start until the end of 2014.^[8][9] The first segment of the line, the Ürümqi–Qumul part, was inaugurated on November 16, 2014.^[10] This high-speed railway segment is the first ever railway of that kind to exist in the Xinjiang autonomous region. The rest of the line opened on December 26, 2014. The line cuts train travel time between the two cities from 20 hours to 12 hours. It also freed up capacity on the older Lanzhou–Xinjiang railway for freight transport.^[11][12]

On November 30, 2017, the Daheyan connection line between the Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway and the conventional Southern Xinjiang railway opened near Daheyan Town (near Turpan railway station).^[13] This will allow passenger trains traveling from Urumqi to destinations in Southern Xinjiang (such as Korla) to use the Ürümqi–Turpan section of the high-speed line before switching to the Southern Xinjiang Railway.^[14]

On 5 December 2021, opened along the railway, at an elevation of 3108 m, it is the world's highest high-speed railway station.^[15]

Stations[]

Operational issues[]

Wind shed risk[]

Near Shanshan, the railway passes through the hundred-li wind zone, where desert wind constantly blows most days of a year. In 2007, strong wind overturned a train on the southern branch of Lanxin Railway, and four people were killed.^[16] A 67 kilometres (42 mi) long wind-protection gallery has been built next to the tracks in this region.^[17]

Engineering issues[]

Many sections of the line have experienced roadbed settlement, deformation, subsidence, frost heave, and cracking of the concrete of the track bed caused by saline soil, large temperature differences, and extremely low temperatures.^{[18][19][20][21]}

The 3769 meters long Zhangjiazhuang Tunnel, located between Minhe South and Ledu South stations was damaged several times during operation. The tunnel is embedded in mudstone, interbedded with sandstone and gypsum rock.^[22] The top covering soil layer is loess. In 2016, the tunnel was damaged twice, closing the line for 3 months.^{[23][24][25][26][27]} After reopening, the operation speed in the tunnel was limited to 60 kilometres per hour (37 mph). On December 24, 2018, the mountain above the tunnel deformed, but trains could initially continue operating. However, the next day, after further deformation, the tunnel was closed for thorough inspection.^[28][29][30] Due to repair works, the line was closed between Lanzhou and Xining until October 11, 2020. Trains were routed over the lower speed Lanzhou–Qinghai railway.^[31]

Earthquake damage[]

As a result of the 2022 Menyuan earthquake, some bridges and tunnels on the line sustained serious damage.^[32] The section between and was halted until repairs could be completed.^[33]

Economics[]

An analysis of China's railway network published in 2021 showed that the Lanzhou–Xinjiang high-speed railway has the lowest utilization rate among all high-speed railway in the country, carrying, on average, merely 2.3 million passenger-kilometers of service per kilometer of the mainline. In comparison, the average load over China's high-speed rail network is 17 million passenger-km per km, and the nation's highest-volume line, the Beijing-Shanghai one, carrying 48 million passenger-km per km. According to the same analysis, a high-speed line would need to carry ca. 36 million passenger-km per km to fully pay its own operating costs. While the Lanzhou-Xinjiang line has the capacity to carry over 160 pairs of high-speed trains per day, it currently only carries 4.^[34]

References[]